An air spring assembly is mounted to a shock absorber to form a strut assembly. The strut assembly is mounted between a vehicle wheel and a vehicle frame member. The strut assembly dampens road load inputs to a vehicle to improve passenger ride and comfort.
The air spring assembly includes an air spring piston supported by the shock absorber, a flexible member, and a retainer member. The flexible member is mounted at one end to the air spring piston and at an opposite end to the retainer member to form a fluid cavity. The shock absorber includes an outer cylinder having an internal piston and piston rod mounted within the outer cylinder. One end of the piston rod is attached to the internal piston and an opposite end of the piston rod is attached to the retainer member.
Attachment of the air spring assembly to the shock absorber typically involves crimping the flexible member to the air spring piston with a retaining component. The air spring piston is then attached and sealed to the shock absorber. This process involves multiple assembly steps, requires a retaining component to hold the flexible member to the air spring piston, and requires a separate sealing assembly to form a sealed interface between the air spring piston and the shock absorber. These several steps increase assembly time and cost. Additionally, there is increased risk of leakage because there are multiple sealing interfaces, i.e. sealing interfaces between the air spring piston and the flexible member and between the air spring piston and the shock absorber.
It would be beneficial to provide an air spring assembly that reduces the number of potential leak areas, and which is more cost effective. The air spring assembly should also be easier to assemble and have fewer required assembly components, as well as overcoming other known deficiencies.